Luck & Magic
by PikaGirl13
Summary: Gladstone never thought that trying to escape a hot summer's day would lead him to meet a powerful witch, learn about his own luck, and make a new friend with unusual powers. With the thing he loves the most on the line, he'll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen.
1. The Shadow Woman

Chapter 1: The Shadow Woman

Gladstone rarely visited the local library. He found the eerie silence and the blank stares of their keepers to be more nightmare inducing than a job application. But on this extremely hot summer's day he felt that any shelter would do. Even in a place where he wouldn't be caught dead in on any other day of the year. But something other than the sun was causing his discomfort, ever since he left his house that morning he's felt _something_ watching him that he couldn't put his finger on.

"Hello. Welcome to the library, do you need any help finding a new book?" A friendly young woman asked him as he walked in.

Gladstone gave her a smile and shook his head. "No thanks. Just thought I'd brows around for a bit." He didn't want to admit that he didn't even own a library card. Let alone the fact that he wasn't even a reader.

"Well just let me know if you have any questions. If I'm not at my desk, just ask my fellow librarians for Athena." She said with a smile and a courteous nod. Her eyes were like melted pieces of caramel and her hair was a smoky brown. She wore a long white dress with a golden pin on her shoulder that looked like a laurel. "Enjoy your stay here at the library."

Gladstone watched her move on to the other patrons in a trance before he eventually moved towards the back of the building. He wanted somewhere he could prop up his feet and take a short nap where he knew no one would bother him.

" _I don't think I've seen a librarian like her before_." Gladstone thought to himself. He found a comfortable padded chair with a matching stool that he immediately claimed as his footrest. Not a soul was in sight as he propped himself into the chair and sunk into the soft pillows around him. " _Maybe when I wake up it'll be cooler._ "

Before he lost consciousness he felt a shiver run down his spine and a chill in the air. Cooler than any breeze from an AC machine. He felt his body stiffen and his eyes shot wide open to see a shadow of a woman hovering above him: staring at him with the eyes of pure amethyst.

"W-What the-" Gladstone tried to speak but the woman silenced him with a raise of her finger to her lips.

" _ **Shh... this is a library. A place for knowledge and power, not a place for making a scene. I have plans for you Gladstone Gander. Oh yes. But we'll have to meet another time face to face, but to keep me in your thoughts**_..." The shadow woman said as her hand materialized a slip of paper that floated onto his chest. " _ **Here's something for you to read and solve. And you must solve it or else you'll lose what you love the most**_."

Gladstone wanted to scream. He wanted to kick this woman off of him and file a police report against her. But her words were cold and threatening, her eyes were hypnotic, and something told him the police weren't gonna believe that a floating shadow woman was pinning him down inside the public library. So he simply blinked to let her know that he understood and the woman cracked a wicked smile.

" _ **Glad you understand. Don't worry about finding me: I'll find you**_." The shadow woman whispered into his ear and like a pile of dust in the wind, she vanished.

The only thing left of her presence was the single piece of paper on his chest.


	2. The Mysterious Paper

Chapter 2: The Mysterious Paper

After he was sure the mysterious shadow woman was truly gone, Gladstone sprang to his feet and held the piece of paper in his hands like it was an active bomb. The ink was purple and it looked ancient with how worn down and horribly soft the page was. The other patrons looked at him like he had gone mad but he didn't care. He needed to solve whatever was written on this page or else he would soon find out what was being prepared for him by the shadow woman.

"Chances are I can't bring this to Uncle Scrooge...and I can't bring this to Donald considering he wouldn't be able to decipher it." Gladstone said softly to himself as he thought of people who could help him. That's when it struck him like a bolt of lightning: Athena. She had told him if he needed help with anything then all he had to do was find her. So he set off from his corner to look for the librarian in the sea of books.

He spotted her in the children's section, putting books away that had recently been brought back and processed. After his encounter with darkness, she looked like an angel sent from heaven.

"Athena! I need your help." Gladstone said as loudly as he dared in the library. "Some crazy Witch appeared and gave me an ultimatum: solve this or lose what I love the most."

Athena gave him the same look the other patrons had given him before, but it quickly changed into shock after she focused on the page he was holding out in front of her. "Come with me." She said quietly, grabbing him by the hand and taking him to one of the private rooms used for meetings. She locked the door behind them and grabbed the paper from out of his hand.

"So Magica managed to break through the barrier around my library. That doesn't bode well for either of us." She said matter of factly, placing the page on the table.

"Who's Magica? What does she want with me?" Gladstone asked.

"Simply put: She's one of the most powerful sorceresses of our time and she's hungry for power. She rivals the abilities of Circe and I wouldn't want to get on her bad side even with my abilities." Athena answered as she materialized an ancient book out of thin air. Now Gladstone was sure he was trapped in a dream.

" _ **HOLD UP! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!**_ " Gladstone couldn't help but yell out of surprise. Athena reached out a slender finger and held it up to his lips.

She gave him a stern look. "No yelling in the Library. I'm the Goddess of Wisdom, I don't go anywhere without my trusted book. We should find what we're looking for in here."

"You're...a goddess?" Gladstone repeated slowly, he looked her up and down. "You seem pretty normal to me."

Athena laughed. "Well I can't go around Duckburg riding in a chariot. I have to blend in with the locals. A-ha! Found it."

The pages of her magic book finally stopped flipping to reveal a riddle that was practically identical to the one on the sheet before them. Athena cleared her throat before reciting:

" _I am painful but fulfilling.  
I'm strong yet I'm vulnerable.  
I lead people like a compass but I also blind judgment.  
I break in loneliness and I cry in neglect.  
What am I?_"

The words tumbled inside Gladstone's mind over and over again. Athena closed the book and looked at him with ancient eyes. "I've translated it for you. Now you must solve it on your own, if Magica finds out that I helped you then who knows what she'll do to you." Athena said with a wince of guilt. "I'm sorry."

"You can't help me solve it? Why?" Gladstone asked.

"I've already given you my answer Gladstone Gander and I've already taken up too much of your time. You must go now and think about the riddle. Magica will make her move again, she doesn't leave her prey squirming for long." Athena answered in a low but demanding voice. She forced the riddle into his hand and turned away from him.

With a snap of her fingers: Gladstone was levitated off the ground and teleported out of the library.


	3. The Witch Appears

Chapter 3: The Witch Appears

The ground was cold underneath Gladstone's body as he finally started to stir from his unconsciousness. He blinked several times to remove the dots from his vision and he slowly rose to find himself surrounded by gravestones. Athena had transported him far away from the city to Duckburg's cemetery and the only thing that kept him from doubting his encounter with the goddess was the translated riddle he still held tightly in his hand.

"I'm never setting foot inside another library again." Gladstone said with a exasperated sigh, he brushed off his clothes and gazed up at the sky. Stars were starting to appear and the sun was setting in the distance. How long was he out? Did Athena put him asleep when she used her magic on him? Questions swirled inside his head along with the riddle itself.

He hadn't been inside a graveyard since he was a child. The grim graves were hauntingly beautiful and the names of the deceased were boldly carved out so that anyone could read the names in the sun or in the moonlight. After taking four deep breaths, Gladstone started to make his way towards the exit of the cemetery. He had no time to waste to give his respects to the dead.

" _ **Leaving so soon?**_ " A whisper in the wind asked softly into Gladstone's ear. He jumped and turned around to see who it was. But nobody was there. A cackle of laughter resounded around him and the wind started to pick up furiously.

Gladstone covered his face with his arm so the loose grass and leaves wouldn't get in his eyes. "Who are you? Show yourself!" he yelled.

Violet smoke started to ooze out from the ground and it swirled upwards to reveal a female with jet black hair and haunting eyes. She wore a black dress with long sleeves and matching black heels, her figure was haunting in the dusk. Magica the witch had shown herself at last.

"So Gladstone. I assume that you've figured out the paper that I've given you? I gave you quite a lot of time to figure it out since our little encounter in the library." Magica asked, twirling a piece of her hair in between her fingers.

Gladstone shifted his feet and looked down at the paper inside his hand. "Uh yeah! Of course I have! But before I reveal my answer, could you tell me why you chose me to figure it out?" Gladstone needed to keep her talking so she wouldn't try any spells on him. He might not be a sorcerer but he knew enough about spell casting from a previous adventure with Uncle Scrooge to know that a verbal command is needed to turn the spell into a reality. So the longer she talked to him, the better.

"I'm afraid questions like that will have to wait. We need to go somewhere else a little more private. These graveyards can get so chatty with the grim grinning ghosts around." Magica said with a devious smile.

Gladstone hadn't noticed the blue figures starting to rise up from the ground. If he hadn't already met a goddess earlier on in the day then he would've been fully convinced that everything happening was just a bad nightmare. But he wasn't asleep and these weren't a figment of his nightmares, these were real.

Magica snapped her fingers and Gladstone was flung into her arms like a doll. She wrapped her hand around his waist and snapped her fingers once again. The violet smoke wrapped around them and before he knew it they were inside a huge living room covered in ancient books and magic items. The witch still firmly held him in her arms, gazing into his eyes.

"Now then." Magica happily proclaimed, she used her magic snap again and Gladstone was flung back into a velvet red chair. "Tell me what you've learned."


	4. The Talk

Chapter 4: The Talk

Magica made her way towards Gladstone like a lioness on the hunt. Her eyes kept him sitting and soon enough she was leaning over him with both her hands on the armrests. Even though he should've been saying his prayers, Gladstone couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful she was. If she wasn't an all powerful witch who could kill him with a snap of her fingers then he probably would've asked her out. But this was no time to be thinking about romance, he needed his luck to go into overdrive so he could get out of her clutches.

"You look so adorable when you're paralyzed with fear. It's a good look on you." Magica teased in a low voice, she used one of her hands to stroke the side of his face. "Now let's have that answer."

Gladstone gulped before replying. "Of course. But could you do me a favor and back up a little? You're making it hard to concentrate with how beautiful you are." He gave her a smile and to his surprise he could've sworn Magica started to slightly blush.

The witch pulled away from him and drew her hand back to her side. "My apologies. I guess that was a little too close for comfort."

"It's OK. We all make that mistake when we know how good looking we are." Gladstone said with a chuckle. He straightened himself out and prayed his luck would see him through. "Do you want me to just give you the answer or do you want me to say the riddle first before I do?"

"I just need the answer Gladstone. If you don't answer correctly...well, you really don't wanna know what I'm gonna do to you." Magica replied darkly.

"Fair enough. OK my answer to your riddle is..." Gladstone began saying, thinking about the riddle inside his head with all the answers he had come up with before. The adrenaline racing through his veins. "Love."

"Love?" Magica repeated. Tilting her head slightly to the side like a confused puppy.

No going back now. "Yes! Love! After you think about it for a while, love is really the best answer anyone could come up with. I mean think about it:

" _I am painful but fulfilling.  
I'm strong yet I'm vulnerable.  
I lead people like a compass but I also blind judgment.  
I break in loneliness and I cry in neglect.  
What am I?_"

It's obvious this riddle is about love and how it can affect people." Gladstone stated in a matter-of-fact tone, standing up from his seat with a hand placed over his heart. "After all, love can fit all of those qualifications."

Magica stood there silent as a statue. Her mouth was gaping slightly and Gladstone couldn't tell if she was silent because she thought his answer was stupid or because she was thinking about the best way to kill him. After a few moments passed, Gladstone shifted his feet uncomfortably and reached out a hand to touch her shoulder to make sure she hadn't blacked out. She shook herself out of her stupor and swiped his outstretched hand away.

"Love?" Magica asked again, but this time it sounded like she was asking herself to clarify instead of Gladstone.

"Are you OK?" Gladstone couldn't help but ask.

Magica snapped her finger s and Gladstone felt his head reel. He wobbled on his feet until he fell to his knees and collapsed on the ground like a stuffed animal. The last thing he saw before he blacked out completely was Magica's hand stretching out towards him.


End file.
